Before I finalise my animatic and analyse it blog, I decided to get some audience feedback on my animatic. I did this because this meant I could make changes so my film will appeal more to my audience and so it fits the characteristics of the genre I picked. Nine people evaluated my animatic, and they were all required to mark different sections out of ten than write positive comments and write a few targets to improve my animatic.
The categories i asked for them to mark me on were:
Range of shot types and editing transitions- this was asked because to make my opening more vibrant it is important to involve a variety of shot types and edits. Through these I can make a certain character or situation give of a certain impression (for instance a high angle shot to make someone look superior)
Appropriate pace and content for chosen genre-I asked this particularly because as I am doing social realism, I needed to get the pace right and not to boring but not to fast. I also asked the question because I wanted to know if the content was appropriate for my chosen genre
Position and order of titles- As one of my earlier posts shows I took particular care in what titles I included in my opening. I asked this, as I feel this is one of the main components to a successful opening sequence
Introduction of characters- This is very important, when looking at conventions of social realist openings, I noticed that character is of the most important things, so I wanted to make sure I introduced the main character in a way that would straight away give him a relationship with the audience
Introduction of storyline- In my opening I want to make sure that the storyline is introduced the right amount, so the audience get a sense of the setting and themes of the film, but not so too much is divulged straight away. After all, the point of an opening sequence is so the audience keeps watching, not so they don't need to.
Clearly an opening sequence- linking to my earlier question about story line, I need to make sure my opening does not end up looking like a trailer. This will be done by making sure not too much information about the full story line is divulged.
Use of sound- As I have now decided that I am not using a voice over, I need to make sure, the music fits the mood and also that it fits in with the pace of the editing.
Below, is a graph showing my average score for each question I asked.
This graph shows that my average score for each question was 9 for all of the questions but 2. The question for which I was rated lowest was Question 5 'Introduction of storyline', for this I my average rating was 8. I think part of the reason I may of scored lower could be because in an animatic, it is hard to show what is really going on. But taking this mark in to account, I think I could add certain shots in to show more about my character life and how he ended up in the house where the film begins. My highest rating was for the final question 'Use of sound', for which I got an average of 10. I am very happy about this firstly as I spent so long choosing my music, and secondly because I was worried my that my decision to not have a voice over could slightly effect the sound of my opening.
My average rating out of 70 was 62/70.
The positive comments that were written included:
The music fits in well with the pace
Fits genre well
I like the positioning of titles
The final shot tells us a lot about the character
The targets I was given included:
The social issue needs to be presented more clearly
I do not know the story line
As well as these targets i also received some regarding the quality of my animatic, but I did not include these as they are not relevant to the production of my opening. In regards to the the targets I have noted, I feel that to improve I need to show more of what the character is like, and establish the fact that the setting is not his home more clearly.
Taking all these comments into account, I will go away and make changes to my animatic to fit my audiences reactions. Below is the first draft of my animatic that the sample saw before making the above decisions. Some of the shots say things such as 'distrubution company', this is because I have not yet chosen the names of some of contributors.
I have finally found some music that I think is suitable for my opening sequence. Because of licensing we had to find an unsigned act, and get permission from them. I went on the website www.mp3unsigned.com, and browsed the website, and I found a song by the most popular act on the website- Redshirt theory. I listened to one of there songs Move On. I thought that fitted the genre well. The song is an acoustic song, with vocals, by a british artist. And I thought this style fitted the themes and setting of my film. I emailed the artist asking for permission. Below is a screen shot of my email and his reply
In my email, I stated who I was, why I wanted the song, and also who would have access to my video. In my reply which I am still to send, I will state that he will be credited in my opening.
When he replied, he said I could use any of his songs, and gave me a link to his website. When looking at his website, i found hat he is actually quite successful, having designed music for well known computer and console games.
One decision that has been finalised due to the music is that I will no longer consider a voice over. As I like the music so much, I have decided not to have a voice over, as with the lyrics this will be confusing to listen to.
As I now found music, this means that my animatic can no be completed.
I am currently in the middle of the story boarding process. And I have realised that there are certain things I must considering whilst story boarding.
One of the things is which titles I am going to include, and in what order. Through the analysis of the openings that I watched, I learnt conventions, but rather than copying these, I need to decide what I am going to do.
This is the order I have decided on:
Production Company- I have put this at the very beginning as this is a convention of most films, and is the norm.
Distribution company
Distribution company
Distribution company- I uses three distribution companies rather than one because it is a convention of social realism to need lots of funding due to a low budget.
A Harry Engall Film
Introducing Christopher Bainbridge- I have put this actors name first due to him having a main part. I than have a clip of him, to show his importance before any other titles start.
Henry Morris
Pheobe Evans
William Glass- I have used three more actors names later in the sequence, to show the actors of all the main parts. My film involves 4 main people, so these have all been covered now.
Thumb- This is the title of my film, this shows relatively early on in my sequence after the director and actors names- as these are seen as the most important to be shown
Produced by Sophie Ronge
Edited by Vincent Gillan- I have chosen that the first names to be credited after the film title should be the producer and editor as they are seen as very important. And because I didnt want to involve all the credited people so I chose the ones who I thought would be highest up.
Music by (not yet decided)- I credited the music in my opening, as in social realism, music is often seen as very important, due to matching it to the style to the film. I have also chosen to credit the musician as this will be the deal I make with the unsigned act I find when I chose the music I want.
Costume design- David Hilditch- I chose to credit costume for a similar reason as my choice to credit music- because I feel that music is very important regarding social realism due to the style and time period that the film is set in.
Directed by Harry Engall- I chose to credit the director again at the end, as this was a convention I saw alot in opening sequences, such as This is England.
Another thing I still need to organise is the music that I will use in my opening, I am currently looking at lots of unsigned acts on the Internet trying to find one suitable.
A thought that has effected my idea a lot whilst story boarding is whether it will be clear that the location my character is in is not his home. This is my only motive, and the only thing I want to portray so I need to get it right. I am using certain shots to make this obvious such as a close up on family photos that obviously are not of his family. And when he is in the kitchen he will make it clear that he does not know where things are. But it I am unable to know exactly what it will look like until i start filming. So i have decided to write a voice over that could be played over the opening (the character voice) talking about his current situation. A voice over would be beneficial as audience will know what is going on. But I am worried it could stray away from the style of my film. I was worried that it would not fit my genre, but the Trainspotting opening has a voice over and that film is very successful as they results of my survey showed. I have decided that when making an animatic I will overlay the voice over on one animatic and leave the other with just music. And I will do the same when editing my final video and than when i get my audience feed back, I can decided what my final choice is. A voice over could also effect my choice of music, as with a voice over the use of music with vocals could sound confusing to the audience.
Other than Location which I shall write about later there are things I must consider for my opening,.
Costume
The only actor being introduced in the opening is Oliver. I want to dress Oliver in clothes that are typical for someone of his age, but also clothes that do not look to delicate or expensive, due to his traveling lifestyle. I also think the clothes he wears should link to what my target audience should wear, as this will attract them more.
For Olivers top I have chosen a check shirt. I have chosen this because it is versitile therfore fitting Olivers lifestyle. I also chose this because it is warm also suiting Oliver's life. Lumberjack check shirts are very popular, so this will also be on trend.
For his bottoms I chose ripped jeans. These ripped jeans will give the audience the idea that Oliver has had them for a while, therfore they are worn. They have been stone washed, therfore they are faded- also giving the effect of being old. These jeans are slim fit, therefore on trend with my target audience.
For Olivers shoes I chose Brown Doctor Martens. I have many pairs of Doctors Martens avaialable, but i chose these ones because they are very worn, faded and scratched- therfore giving off the right impression.
Although all the clothes I chose will give the impression of being old, they are also on trend, which is important to a younger audience.
I also have to consider props for my opening.
A lot of my props, such as a cereal bowl and spoon are very easy to find, and will most probably be available at my venue, but there is some that I must consider my self. I will need to bring a sleeping bag, I will bring one of the ones that pack up very small, so therfore it will not get in the way when filming the scene where Oliver is walking .
I will also have to bring a weekend bag which Oliver will carry. The bag I have chosen will be a Ralph Lauren weekender. I chose this as I wanted to give clues at Oliver's privileged back ground which he has now rejected. I will have certain things that I want Oliver to always have, a symbol which the audience will straight away know relates to his character. One of these will be his wallet, which has his ID and all the money he has in. I want this to be a symbol, as it symbolises how little Oliver has, and how he is happy with little as long as he enjoys life. Another thing I want Oliver to always have is a pack og Golden Virginia tobacco, and a small leather ciggerete case. I chose these because I think it will add to the cheap look of Olivers lifestyle.
I was in a charity shop at the weekend, when i saw the cigarette case, I chose it because it suited the vintage style of my film, and also because it looked like th kind of think my character would like.
In the opening the only character introduced is Oliver, the main character. I have chosen a close freind Chris Bainbridge to play the character of Oliver.
Chris
My friend Chris is 17 and lives in my town. He is currently studying drama at a- level, so therefore he will be able to act well enough to make my opening believable. I have known Chris for a long time, so therefore I think we will be able to work professionally together and will not be side tracked. Chris has the certain look that I am going for regarding my character. His style will attract my target audience and it also suits the style and tone of my film. Chris has similar interests and ideas as me, so therefore i feel he will be able to grasp my film idea well, and interpret my character authentically.
Oliver- character profile
Oliver is a 19 year old male who dropped out of school when he was sixteen with little qualifications. He had a privileged middle class up bringing, but his rebellious nature stopped him getting on with his parents and therefore he moved out of home when he was 16- not hearing from them since. Although my audience research showed that audiences would prefer the character to be lower/ middle class, i chose my character to slightly more privileged in the past, to show a contrast with his cheap life now. When he moved out he took all the money he had with him, and when he turned 18 he was able to access a trust fund which has been set up for him. Since moving out of home, he had a short stint in a youth hostel, before leaving there starting to live un- lawfully. Oliver hitch hikes around from place to place, sometimes staying with generous people but most of the time breaking in to houses which have been left alone whilst the family is on holiday. After living like this for 3 years Oliver decides to contact his cousin who lives in Edinburgh- the first time e has spoken to his famly in years. He asks if he could go up there and live with him, and start to make a life for him self. The cousin agrees happily and swears to secrecy. All this is previous to my story starting.
Oliver is very free willing ad easy going. But is not happy being the little man. This story shows his 'coming of age' and how his character grows from a child to a man. His mannerisms are very subtle, as he is not very loud at the beginning of the film. I want him to give the impression of being happy with himself, and enjoying his own company.
I have finally thought of an idea for the storyline of my film.
My story will focus on the life of a young 19 year old man named Oliver who has been out of school for 3 years, and has lost all ambition. Since leaving school and home at the age of 16 he has been traveling around the country staying in empty houses who's owners are away or on holiday as he did not get on with any of his family. Oliver's life is a mystery to the audience and all he is seen to have is a bag of belongings and a wallet in his pocket. The story follows him traveling from his home in a small village in Norfolk to Edinburgh where he is planning to stay with a cousin. He hitch hikes across england and it seems that he will make it. But halfway there he catches a lift with a eccentric twenty year old french man named Berlioz who invites Oliver to a party he is going to that night. Oliver accepts and attends the party that night. After waking up the next morning, Oliver, Berlioz, Luke and Amy (two people he met at the party) have to make a run for it after Berlioz up sets a gang member. The film than follows the four lost youngsters trying to make it to Edinburgh with Oliver, and Oliver realizes that hitching is a lot harder when there is four of them. Along the way Berlioz gets the group in lots of different trouble much to the annoyance of Oliver and Luke who are getting very close. In the climax of the film the police are called as the group are found breaking into a house, in the panic Berlioz kills Luke and runs away. Heartbroken Oliver tries to run after Berlioz but Amy stops him. The last scene of the film see's Amy and Oliver living together in Edinburgh trying to make money. The film ends on a sand note due to Olivers sadness at the death of Luke. But the film also has a coming-of-age theme, as Oliver has changed so much over his travels.
The narrative of the two minute opening has been planned in much more detail.
The opening will focus only on the character of Oliver. The opening will start with him waking up on the sofa in a sleeping bag. He than gets up changes clothes, and stuffs all his stuff in a bag. The audience will than see him make breakfast- he will look quite lost in the house as if he doesn't know where things are. He will than look at the calendar and there will be a close up on a date with a note saying 'back from Spain today'. The viewers will than see him clamber out one of the windows and leave the house. The end of the opening will be him walking along a road waving at cars. Until one finally pick him up. I have decided to leave the driver of the car (who has no part in the story) unknown, as in my opinion the opening should only focus on oliver and no one else. The last shot of the opening will be Oliver getting out of the car at a garage and waving bye. Here the music will stop.
After reviewing my questionnaire results, I have created two audience profiles for my film. One for a male member of my audience and one for a female member of my audience.
I handed my questionnaire to 16 male and 16 females, 32 people over all. I wanted to give it out equally to each gender so I would have a fair representation of my audience. Below I will be analyzing the results to certain questions from my questionaire that i think are the most relevant.
Question one-
1.What is your Age?
<> 16- 25
<>26- 35
<> 36- 45
<> 46 +
Results
This chart shows that the majority of the people who agreed to do a survey on social drama films were of the ages 16-25. Followed by26-35. This shows me that my audience is quite young. I think from these results my target audience should be roughly from 18- 35. I chose this because although the age 16 was quite high, this would limit what explicit content my film could involve.
Question 4-
What social class would you say you are?
<> Working class
<> Middle Class
<> Upper Class
Results
These results showed a very strong signal that i should focus my film towards the middle class. There was no people who considered them selves as working class that agreed to take my questionnaire. And only two people who said they were upper.
Question 5-
In an opening sequence of a film, what do think is most important?
<> Introducing Characters
<> IntroducingLocation
Results
These results confirmed the conventions that I wrote about earlier. More than 75% of the people i asked said that they would rather character be a bigger part of an opening than location. This helps me a lot, as it means that starting to plan my opening will be a lot easier.
Question 6-
What social aspect would you say us most original for a social drama?
<> Drink and Drugs
<> Gang culture
<> Sexuality
<>Family problems
<> Travelling
Results
This shows that the most popular story line was drink and drugs, closely followed by sexuality and traveling. Although drink and drugs was the most popular, I personally thought that this was a theme that most people would go for and could very typical. Therefore traveling and sexuality will be more big themes in m story. I think the reason that gang culture was less popular was because of the area my questionnaires were handed out. And I think that family was less popular because this would be less popular with a younger audience, and most of the people who filled out my questionnaire were young.
Question 7-
Which of these films do you like the most?
<>This is England
<> Quadraphenia
<> Trainspotting
<> Kes
<> Room for Romeo Brass
Results
These results show that This is England is the most popular with the public. And the film kes the least popular. I think this has a strong correlation with he age of people who did my questionnaire, due to when the films were released. The film trainspotting- which is my favorite of the list- came second, which i thought was positive I would love to take inspiration from this film.
Question eight-
What gender would you prefer the main character to be?
<> Male
<> Female
Results
These results show that my audience would prefer the main character to be a male. 20 of the 32 people i questioned said that they would prefer a male character. This is very important due to character being very important as my earlier results said.
Question nine-
What social class do you think is more suitable for the main character of a social drama?
<> Working Class
<>Middle class
<> Upper Class
Results
These results show that the most popular choice was working class closly followed by middle class, with only one point between them.
Upper class was very un-popular. I am happy with these results as they match the conventions of social realism characters.
I just completed writing a questionnaire. This questionnaire will be handed out to people in the public. I am writing it so it can help me define my audience, and also so i can learn what my audience will prefer. Audience research is important as otherwise i will not know who to aim my film at
Questionnaire for audience research.
Please tick one answer for each question. Thank you for your time.
1.What is your Age?
<> 16- 25
<> 26- 35
<> 36- 45
<> 46 +
I have asked this question about age because age is one the most important things about your audience. Knowing your audiences age insures that your film will be suitable for an age group but also because it can include things that your audience will enjoy.
2.What is your occupation?
<> At school, college or university
<> At work
<> Unemployed
I asked this question because i felt that as i am doing social realism it was important. Many social realism films involve people who are un-employed, but i wanted to know the the content of films mirrored the audience.
3.What is your gender?
<> Male
<> Female
This question was asked because I felt that your audience gender determines what themes should be involved. Although my genre is social realism, this still leaves lots of space to explore other ideas. Different genders would prefer to watch a film on different social issues.
4.What social class would you say you are?
<> Working class
<> Middle Class
<> Upper Class
I chose this because when i choose what social issue I should aim my film at, i want to know what social group would most enjoy it. Social realism normally involve working class people, but i do not know weather working class people enjoy the films.
5.In an opening sequence of a film, what do think is most important?
<> Introducing Characters
<> Introducing Location
I asked this question because i felt that this is a decision i should take very seriously. Although the conventions i learnt about guide me towards character, I wanted to get the audiences point of view.
6.What social aspect would you say us most original for a social drama?
<> Drink and Drugs
<> Gang culture
<> Sexuality
<>Family problems
<> Travelling
This question was perhaps the most important as it would determine my story line. But as I am doing social realism, it was also less important, as the opening would not involve the story very much- as the conventions say.
7.Which of these films do you like the most?
<> This is England
<> Quadraphenia
<> Trainspotting
<> Kes
<> Room for Romeo Brass
This question was asked because I wanted to know what social realism film was most popular, so i could than draw ideas from the popular ones to see what audiences like.
8.What gender would you prefer the main character to be?
<> Male
<> Female
This question was asked because character is very important in social realism openings. So getting the main character right is very important.
9.What social class do you think is more suitable for the main character of a social drama?
<> Working Class
<>Middle class
<> Upper Class
I used this question for the same reason as the one above. Although the conventions of social realism normally are that the main character is working class, i wanted to see if my audience thought differently. I used the term 'Social Drama' in this questions rather than 'Social Realism' because \i did not think that all members of the public would know what social realism was.
I have finally chosen which genre to base my opening sequence on- Social Realism.
As the genre I chose was social realsim, i have decided to put together a list of conventions that i should follow.
From opening such as Kidulthood and A Room For Romeo Brass I found that the actual story is not divulged into very fully. Although the story is not told, a strong convention is characters being introduced. I found the character is normally the main part of social realism openings. Normally the opening will introduce the main characters weather its 1 or 10.
I also found that use of camera is very important. The camera use is normally very simplistic, not cutting very often, and having very long duration shots. There is also a range of shot type, from long shots of locations, to close ups of characters.
I found that editing was used to create an effect in the openings i watched. I found that the editing was normally used to show a change in time, using quick cuts, to show time going fast or slow dissolves to show time going slowly.
I think that location is very important in social realism openings. In all three openings I wrote about there was an obvious establishing shot at one point. The location was used to show something about the characters involved such as there lifestyle, social class or family.
In terms of character i found that all the main characters in social realism came from a working class background. Some could come from a middle class, but never an upper class. This is very important, as if i broke this convention my chosen genre could go completely wrong.
The use of sound in social realism openings varied. All were diegetic, letting the audience hear everything that is happening in the scene. This is very important as it made the openings more realistic. I also found that the music that played over the openings was all music that was either from the time period the film was set in, or the type of music the characters would of liked.
A room for romeo brass follows he lives of two young boys. In the film they be- friend an older man who later starts having a love interest with one of the boys sisters. The older man than turns out to be very different then what they expected.
The narrative if the opening is not very story heavy. It more shows the relationship between the boys. It starts with them walking up a hill having a conversation. And than different events follow which sums up there average day. One of the events is Romeo goes to the fish and chip shop to et his family dinner, but he ends up eating all the food.
Enigma Codes
Due to this opening showing little of th story, almost no questions are raised about the story. The opening is very happy and funny, and gives the audience the tone of the film, but nothing happens that has any major implications later.I think this shows some of the conventions of social realism opening sequences. The fact that little story is divulged is commo in these openings.
Characters
The two main characters represented in the opening are Romeo Brass and Gavin "Knocks" Woolley- Romeo's best friend. Romeo is shown as being quite greedy in the opening, especially in the scene in the chip shop. This greedy characters is balanced out by the other side which is shown- the comical side. Both characters are comical in the opening, bouncing of each others lines. In this opening, it appears at first that Knocks is the leader as in the first shot he is leading Romeo up a hill. But later on Romeo seems to be the leader as he refuses to buy Knocks anything in the chip shop ad than leads Knocks out. I think the mix of leadership is very effective as it shows how close the pair are- something which is a strong theme later on in the film. I think the way that only these two characters are introduced in the opening is very effective as it makes the film all about them, and tells the audience straight away who the main characters are.
Location The locations in the opening are differant ones around the town that Romeo and Knocks live in. The first location seen is a hill that the pair are walking up. The dialog shows that this place is special to them, and this joined with the fact that it is an isolated place shows that audience straight away how close the pair are. Other locations include the chip shop. An iconic symbol, with connotations of working class Britain, this location is very effective and shows the audience the characters class and lifestyle. There are many other locations involved around the town, such as a small hill, two benches ad the pair climbing over a fence. The use of lots of different locations firstly gives the audience a feeling of time changing throughout the day, and also give a sense of how casual the friendship between the pair is. The last location you see is the friends homes, they live in what appear to be semi- detached houses next door to each other. The look of the houses give a strong idea o what lifestyle the pair live. The fact that they live next door to each other is also good as it shows the audience that they are possibly long friends.
Editing The editing in this opening does nothing very out of the norm, as the camera is used more to create effect than the editing. Continuity editing is in place, such as when the pair walk into the chip shop.
Camera
The opening sequence starts with a long shot of the pair walking up a hill. And this is followed by a long shot of the pair sitting at the top of the hill. These long shots are effective as they show that it is just the two boys there, and shows how close they are. The long shot of the hill also shows the adventurous sides of the characters.
The camera often stays still for a long time. This is used when the pair are walking down a street and also a lot of the time when the pair are sitting down. When the pair are sitting on a bench the camera stays still in one shot for the hole conversation. This makes the film seem more realistic and less glamorous, which is conventional for social realism and also for Shane Meadows the director.
The use of two person shots (when two people are in medium shot in the frame) is used in the opening. This is used to show the friendship of the two characters, and how they are a double act. The two person shots are sometimes quite comical, and the audience grow o like the pair of them more and more.
Sound
The sound is very effective in this opening. In the opening you can hear everything happening in the shots, but music is playing over the top. The first thing i liked was how the music came in. There was two short clips of the pair walking up a hill and having a conversation. Than the credits started along with the music. I thought this was very effective as it made the first two shots feel like a introduction and than the film properly started. The music fitted the happy-go-lucky feel to the opening, and it also fitted the characters friendship.
Genre Characteristics
This opening is very typical of its genre. The use of camera is very similar to the openings i previously wrote about, therefore showing me the conventions. The use of music and character and also location was all very typical. The fact the the characters were working class matched the two other social realism films I analyzed.
The genre I have chosen finally is, Social Realism.
I chose this genre as after looking at the conventions of opening sequences I decided that this genre would be more suitable for me and my ideas. The conventions regarding location and actor would be convenient for me, and i think that as i personally prefer this genre, I would have more drive and passion for this pacific project.
On this particular youtube video the opening in my opinion ends at roughly 3:31 minutes.
Kidulthood (KiDULTHOOD) is a social realism drama directed in 2006 by Menhaj Huda
Narrative Context
Kidulthood follows the life of several teenagers all attending the same school in west london. The film focus on the troubles that young teenagers from different social and ethnic backgrounds face when growing up in a more rough area of london. And focuses on there troubles with sex, drugs, violence and family.
The opening sequence particularly focuses on all the characters and is mostly filmed in the playground at the beginning of the school day. All the character shave small amounts of dialogues showing there sub cultures and social groups to the audience and introducing all the characters quite well. The opening ends with one of the character saying 'come on Becky, lets go'. This is a nice end to the opening as it concludes it, and the story starts when the school day does. The opening includes several shots of different events, such as a ale student using a machine to make something- unknown to the audience. There is also students smoking, kissing and bullying each other.
Enigma Codes
One of the questions asked but the audience is relation to the boy working with the mechanics machine. The audience are deliberately un-able to see what he is making, and when he proceeds to hide the thing in a bin outside, the audience than wonder even more 'Why is he hiding it so thoroughly, and what is it?'. The audience will keep watching as they really want to know what he is hiding. Other questions that are asked are, why one of the girls is being so badly bullied, why a girl is hiding behind a tree cheating on her boyfriend and others. One of the students is walking around invent everyone to his party as his parents are away, the audience will keep watching here as they will really want to know what will happen to his house at the party if he is inviting so many people.
Characters
Many characters are introduced in the opening.
Two of the first are two girls who are obviously friends. They are standing together quite confidently, which shows that are not victims of bullying at the school. There dialogue is used to show that one of them is more dominant as she does most the talking. But they are both quite confident. Costume is used in all the characters to show about them, these two are wearing short skirts and one is wearing quite cheap looking earrings. But they are both quite pretty. This shows the audience straight away about there social class. These two characters also finish the opening so it is clear to the audience that are important characters.
Other characters introduced are the more negative characters. There is a group of boys led by a male. And they are with some girls. There costumes show they are probably the roughest of all the characters and there dialogue joins this. Through dialogue and positioning it is obvious that one of the girls does not want to look weak in front of the boys so she agrees to beat up a girl. This group or portrayed throughout the opening as horrible people, so the audience already have an idea of what they will be like.
Two other characters introduced are too bullied girls. In just the opening they have an encounter with the boy i mentioned above, and this shows the audience that they are victims. Because of the way there are dressed the audience can see that they do not fit in, on of them is wearing a long skirt, and the other is not wearing very much make up. The casting here is very effective, one of them is tall and lanky, and the other is short and over weight, this makes them obvious to be outcasts from the beginning.
Other characters are introduced such as the bullies girlfriend, who is seen cheating on him with a boy who the audience can tell is also working class. Because of his shape and dialogue the audience can also tell that he is trying to look tougher than he really is. As well as these, many other characters are introduced and i really like this as it is as if the audience has had character profiles before the film, and this means the viewers have an idea of the dynamics of the school.
Locations
The only location the audience gets a real view of in the opening is the playground. Due to the mise-en-scene the audience can tell the class of the school and the types of students that would probably attend. The hole scene all looks quite grey and dull, and reflects the lives of the students attending it. Having an appropriate mise-en-scene is very important as otherwise the audience can be distracted and confused and the opening can be less effective.
Editing
The editing is very effective in this opening sequence. The editing is used a lot to blur certain bits together. The camera often pans across the playground blurring and than focuses on certain groups. The camera also often zooms in and out subtly. The camera also sometimes speeds up and slows down. These three effects together gave me the idea of CCTV as this is what the camera felt like when watching. This idea also links with a peace of dialogue spoken by one of the girls- 'they are watching us'. It creates a very tense atmosphere. I think this is very appropriate and effective, as due to the amount of crime going on in this area it really made the scene feel very realistic. At some points in the opening such as right at the end, there will be a conversation and than the camera will change focus and the audience will see a conversation behind the original people. This use of focusing rather than cutting i really effective.
Camera
The camera uses close ups a lot to contrast with the long shots of the play ground. There will be along shot, and than a close up of a particular group. This is effective and links in with my earlier point of CCTV and the idea of us watching everyone and being to listen to every one. There is a close up of the drill when the boy is making the mysterious object, this makes the action of the drill much more important and dramatic. There is also close ups on peoples faces a lot, this displays the idea that everyone is watching each other, and that everyone feels quite tense due to the rough nature of the school. When the two people are kissing the camera tilts up the bodies to reveal the identities of the people slowly.
Sound
The sound is both diegetic and non- diegetic all the shouts and laughs and dialogue can be heard from the playground as well as the music. The music- which was made for the film but an artist called The Angel is very effective and makes the scene more tense. It is used to show importance of certain peaces of dialogue as it gets more dramatic when somethings are being said. When certain things happen such as the people are kissing the music gets more electronic so show the importance of this event.
Genre Characteristics
One of the characteristics is the idea of working class people, which social realism focuses on a lot. Another is the color scheme, which is all quite grey and dull, it looks gritty, which follows the look of many social realism films such as this is england. This opening very much differs from the this is England opening, as in this all the characters are reveled, whereas in This is England, the story is hardly divulged in too at all.
This is England is a film directed by Shane Medows in 2006
Narrative Context
The story line of the film revolvesaround 1980's england. The main characters are a group of skin heads lead by there leader woody, after seeing a Young boy upset from bullying they decided to adopt him and welcome him into the gang, shaving his head, buying him a shirt and doc martens and letting him join in with all the gang activities. But the story soon takes a turn for the worse when a racist skin head named Combo turns up and convinces the boy to join him. The film focuses on the racist rebellion of that time and the social annoyance with immagration that was going on when the film was set.
The opening sequence has no narrative at all concerning the story line. The sequence, is a series of short clips, not filmed by shane medows, that lasts roughly 3 minutes 15 seconds. The short clips contain many different things that were happening during this time in England and also all following with the themes of the film such as war, racism, skin heads and politics. The images shown in the opening are very important as they foreshadow events that come up later in the film such as Margeret Thatcher and the Falklands war. Right at the end of the opening there is a few seconds of actually footage of the film and this is the only insight the audience get into the characters. The films shows a boy lying in bed with a picture of a man in an army uniform next to his bed, you can hear margert Thatcher on the radio and the words, 'July 1983', 'last day of term', come up on the screen. He then gets up and leaves the house.
The video's shown in the opening are often happy but some are also sad. And this links with the feeling of the film. There is some videos happy things that happened in this era, there is a man playing with a rubix cube, CD's being manufactured, but there is also videos of riots, war wounds and army men being sent to war.
Enigma Codes
Due to the nature of this opening sequence, the main question that the audience will ask is, 'what does all this footage have to do with the story?', the footage is a collaboration of events that most of the audience will know about, so they will be intrigued to know how this relates to the story line. Other than the questions raised by the past footage. The questions raised by the end of the opening when the boy is lying in the bed are, 'who is the man in the army uniform?', 'what significance does this day have?' and also 'who is this boy?'. Audience members will straight away link together the army man with the previous war footage, this will keep them engaged and wondering what significance all this has.
Character
The only character established in the opening is the main character 'Shaun'. The audience will establish that he is probably the main char cater as he opens the entire film. He is represented straight away in a way that is typical of social realism you can tell by his room thay he is not very wealthy and is living a working class life. You can also tell by the picture on his night stand that someone close to him has gone to war, this shows more about the status of his character. When he gets up you see his hole body and he is just wearing white Y- Fronts. This establishes his age to the audience. When he leaves the house at the end of the opening sequence, he is wearing an outfit that would of been typical of a sub- culture of that era. You also see his house when he leaves which gives the audience more insight into his class.
Location
The series of clips at the start are all set in different locations, all significant to this decade in someway, therefore establishing the time the film is set in to the audience. These settings also show the audience some of the themes that will be mentioned in the film later.
When the shot of the boys room comes on the screen, the audience will gather things about the character through the surroundings. His room is small and lit through natural light, he has peeling wall paper on the wall, and an old clock, blanket and photo all resting on a chair. Other than this his room seems quite bare. This will show the audience straight away that the character is not very wealthy.
When the shot form outside his house is shown the audience see a grey, semi detached house that looks very average and normal for those times. Even by this little time of seeing this character the audience can know a lot about Shaun.
Editing and Camera
Because this film is social realism, i think that the makers of the film have deliberately picked the clips at the start to look authentic and of the time. Therefore keeping with the social aspect that the film is focusing on. After these shots there is a black out than a fade into the photo of Shaun's dad. I think a fade has been used to here to separate all the previous footage from the actually story its self. I think they have also used a close up on the photo to show the importance of Shaun's dad to him. When the clock goes up one more minute, words come on the screen, and alarm goes off, and the radio starts playing. I think using the change of time as a trigger for all the action to start was very effective. Shaun than stands up, but the camera stays in one place this was done firstly to make the film look less professional and glossy, as social realism films often look quite raw, and also to show his height and stance. I think this is also important as the shot stays on his bed and wall, keeping the mise-en-scene visible to the audience. There is no dissolves or fades, the cuts are all simple, this fits with the simple look of social realism films.
Sound
Whilst all the clips are playing no sound from the clips can be heard, but the song '65-46' by Toots and the Maytals is playing. One reason they have chosen this song is because it was popular in this era, the other is that I think it makes the opening feel very happy and free. Although some of the clips are sad, the music makes the audience feel happy and rebellious against the clips which fits with the rebellious themes of the film. The music fades on the last short clip of an injured army man, this is effective as the silence draws attention to the clip and that section ends on a serious note. When the scene goes to to Shaun's bedroom there is no sound other than the sound in the scene. The audience do not hear Shaun speak at all in the opening. This is effective as later, the first time you hear Shaun speak, he says 'fuck off', this makes that dialogue more shocking.
Genre
One of the conventions that has not been followed very much of social realism films is that little of the story was shown. In iconic social realism openings such as Trainspotting, more characters are introduced and more happens. The conventions that have been followed are the still camera and little panning which adds authenticity to the opening. And also the mise-en-scene and character are very common in social realism.
